I've hit a dead end in my mod. On the lcd screen, an old kogi, there is a little brown "ribbon" type cable with about 21 wires in it. (I was a bit tired, I'll do a better count later) It connects the bottom vertical controller board to the horizontal controller board, but the wire is only about 1 inch and I need to make it about 6 inches.

Is there any simple extender that I can buy? Or am I stuck with making my own? Will just any type of wire be sufficient, or is there a place to buy some already made ribbon cable that I can just solder on? I have never really soldered much before, so for something this small would a 15W iron be sufficient, or something more? Thanks in advance.

I'm willing to bet that you won't find a simple solution to this one. I'd fabricate my own. Before you attempt it tho, call kogi http://www.4kogi.com and speak to one of their technicians. You may have some luck getting a little info out of them.

Anything that will melt the sauder to the contact points and wire should be enough. You really don't need a higher wattage iron for what you are doing anyways, because you could damage the board or ribbon.

Though if you find that it doesn't stick, try using a knife and scratch the top of the contact. Just barely enough, but it can help if you get a point where it just does not want to stick.

My suggestion is to take the ribbon out of the equation if you can and use wire strait from board to board. The ribbons are hard to come by and in case something happens, you will have the backup.

Did a bit of practice soldering on an old ethernet card. But when I finally brought the lcd over to use I realized that there is no way that I'm gonna be able to solder onto the tiny, and very close together, leads. I think my best bet is gonna be to cut the ribbon in half, and splice in some other wires. So my next question is: how the heck do you get to the wires in this stuff? seems the plastic has a very high melting point and it makes it very hard to access the wires. What's the best way to get at those little copper wires inside? Any ideas? Thanks.

Are you referring to the video feed ribbon cable?Is there a strip connector on the end?Just get some ethernet cable strip it and shove it into both connectors before you start cutting things up.I do not have a picture in my mind of what the Mod is that you are working on.But it is my practice to do none destructive investigation first, see if it works then make the permanent modification that will fit into the design.Joseph

Agreed, I haven't cut anything on the lcd yet, just playing around with some ribbon cable from an old PB that is extra. Not sure what you mean by the video feed cable, or a strip connector. The cable is a flat, brown, somewhat see-through cable with 20 copper (2 millimeter wide) wires in it. The connection on the end is a bunch of silver flat connections which plug into a little clip that is manually closed on the other side. I'll see if I can't get some pics up in a bit.

Edit: here are the links to the pics (didn't want to embed for people on dialup etc.)

It would be my thought that if you cut the ribbon then take some new wire that you have melted the smallest bit of solder to the ends of, you could piggyback the extension wire onto the preexisting connector.You would then do the same thing to the other side.Make sense?Also here is a link to a company that sells ribbon and connectors you could probably just go out and buy a longer one, as an option, (not as much fun).http://www.fujikura.co.jp/elect_material/frame_h_e.htm

photo- thats what I was thinking as far as splicing goes. big problem there though is that the copper wire inside is very brittle and the plastic, or whatever it is, on the outside is ridiculously durable, and I haven't yet figured out a decent way to get it off while keeping the wire intact.

whitlock- as far as soldering goes thats what I think I'm going to try first, as it would be the least destructive. But just wondering what you would suggest as a tip, or place to get a better one. The one I currently have is small, but certainly not small enough.

Xplain's use of MacNews, AppleCentral and AppleExpo are not affiliated with Apple, Inc. MacTech is a registered trademark of Xplain Corporation. AppleCentral, MacNews, Xplain, "The journal of Apple technology", Apple Expo, Explain It, MacDev, MacDev-1, THINK Reference, NetProfessional, MacTech Central, MacTech Domains, MacForge, and the MacTutorMan are trademarks or service marks of Xplain Corp. Sprocket is a registered trademark of eSprocket Corp. Other trademarks and copyrights appearing in this printing or software remain the property of their respective holders.

All contents are Copyright 1984-2010 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.